Proposals to curb air pollution gather dust

PATNA: A number of advisories and directives issued to various state government agencies and departments to curb air pollution gather dust even as smog due to severe air pollution has become a regular affair in winter months of November and December in Patna every year.

Hazy skies were witnessed for the fourth consecutive day in the state capital on Friday as the level of suspended particulate matter or PM2.5 was measured at 365 micrograms per cubic metre, six times higher than the respective standard.

Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) had issued an advisory in December, 2015 recommending measures like phasing out vehicles more than 15 years old from Patna, ban on burning garbage, frequent street sweeping and pollution check on vehicles, among others, but all such measures remained only in government files.

Although the Patna district transport office had in 2016 prepared a list of 43,655 diesel vehicles more than 15 years old in the city, the transport department officials claimed that the Supreme Court, in a recent order, stated that if a vehicle is issued fitness certificate then its cannot be phased out.

"It has been stated that only old vehicles do not contribute to pollution; rather all kinds of vehicular emission pollute the air. Nonetheless, we already charge a 'Green Tax' on vehicles more than 12 years old, but as per the recent SC order, we cannot ask people to remove their vehicle if it has been issued a fitness certificate," said a transport department official.

It was also resolved in a meeting chaired by chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh on September 9, 2015 that Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) would take undertaking from developers to resort to environment-friendly construction practices, such as use of sprinklers, curtains and putting a cover on buildings under construction. In the same meeting, the state forest department had proposed to stop registration and movement of diesel operated four-wheelers with engine capacity more than 2000cc.

However, neither the civic body enforced any such mechanism nor the forest department floated the proposal for a ban on registration of bigger diesel vehicles.

It was also proposed to phase out all brick kilns in the urban area of Patna. The State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority had also decided not to give clearance to the brick kilns on the Ganga riverbed.

BSPCB officials said now all brick kilns in Bihar have been asked to induct new low-carbon emission technology within a given time frame to curb pollution. "Workshops have been recently organized at all district headquarters to create awareness among brick kiln owners to adapt to the new technology under the fixed deadline," said Birendra Kumar, PRO at BSPCB.

The forest department had also proposed to make one day in week a car/bike free day in government offices at Patna, but it still remains in the proposal stage. Urban development and housing department in January last year had proposed to procure truck- mounted road sweeper machine for Patna, but no such machine has come till date.